Pensioners called on the government on Monday to introduce a national care service funded by general taxation along the lines of the NHS.

The new Fair Care Campaign was set up by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) to combat the growing crisis in elderly care.

It follows numerous reports recently that have highlighted the failures in the current social care system and comes ahead of a government white paper seeking to integrate funding and commissioning between services, expected later this year.

NPC analysis revealed a postcode lottery of charges for care at home, inadequate standards in both nursing and home care, a lack of proper training and qualifications among care staff and little support for family carers.

A false separation between NHS funded medical care and means-tested social care has also removed thousands of frail elderly people from receiving free care, the NPC said.